Last night was opening night for the Lake Highlands High School musical "Annie," and it was a performance you really shouldn’t miss. The Thursday night crowd was light (most folks had their popcorn ready to watch the Cowboys), but those who attended were wow-ed by show-stopper numbers like "It’s a Hard Knock Life" and "The Sun’ll Come Out Tomorrow." You can purchase tickets for performances Friday and Saturday nights via www.lhhstheatre.org. Every student participating did a fabulous job, but I admit to having a few favorites. Susan Harris as Annie was spectacular. She reminded me of Tom Hanks in the movie "Big" — you really believed he was a kid in a man’s body, and you’ll really believe Susan is Little Orphan Annie. I also enjoyed Chase Bekharian’s transformation from grumpy aide of President Roosevelt to heel-clicking optimist.Little Jenna Mellinger steals the show as she mimics mean Mrs. Hannigan, played by the always fabulous Claire Daniels. And Samantha Grinsfelder as the mean orphan is hilarious. Don’t miss sophomore Martin White as the cheesy radio personality Bert Healy, and you’ll crack up at Elaine Walker as his sidekick with the funny voice. Cameron Alspaw, Molly York, and Justin Chumbley give incredible performances, but we’ve seen them shine in starring roles before. If you’ve never been to an LHHS musical, prepare for a Broadway-calibur evening.
After the show, I met a guy in the audience who brought his wife, baby, and young daughter to the performance. I asked him if he was affiliated with the show, and he said no, he was just a neighborhood guy and Exchange Club member who heard about it and wanted to check it out. What a great thing for our community to have events like these to bring us all together.
(Thanks to neighbor Ellen Sabin for providing pics from the dress rehearsal!)
